Justification
Grasp justification as a judicial act in which God declares the believing sinner righteous on the ground of Christ's imputed righteousness, received by faith alone.
Having traced how Christ purchased redemption, the Standards turn to how that redemption is actually applied. They begin where the gospel's good news is sharpest: with God's free pardon of the guilty and his accepting of them as righteous in his sight.
An act, not a process
The Standards call justification an act of God's free grace, and the word act is deliberate. Unlike sanctification, which is an ongoing work, justification happens at once and completely. In it God does two things together: he pardons all our sins, and he accepts and accounts our persons as righteous in his sight. This is courtroom language, a verdict pronounced over the sinner, not a quality slowly produced within him.
Because it is a declaration about our standing rather than a change in our nature, justification admits of no degrees. A believer is not partly justified and growing toward full acceptance; he is fully and finally accepted from the first moment of faith.
The ground: the righteousness of Christ imputed
The Standards are emphatic that we are accepted as righteous not for anything wrought in us or done by us, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ. This righteousness is imputed, that is, reckoned to our account. Christ's active obedience to the law and his suffering of its penalty are credited to the believer, so that God can be both just and the justifier of the ungodly.
This is why the Standards insist that justification is an act of free grace even though Christ rendered a real and full satisfaction. God provided the surety himself and accepts his payment on our behalf; the gift is entirely free to us precisely because it was costly to him.
Faith alone, and faith's place
Justifying faith receives and rests upon Christ alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel. The Standards are careful here: faith justifies not because it is itself a meritorious virtue, nor because of the graces and good works that accompany it, but only as it is the instrument by which we lay hold of Christ and his righteousness. Faith is the empty hand that receives, never the price that purchases.
It is vital to distinguish justification from sanctification, which the Standards treat next. In justification God imputes a righteousness outside us; in sanctification his Spirit infuses grace within us. The first deals with our guilt and is perfect at once; the second deals with our corruption and grows over a lifetime. Confusing the two is the surest way to lose the comfort of the gospel.
Study the full text, Scripture proofs, and commentary on each:
- Read WSC 33 alongside WLC 70-73 and note what the Larger Catechism adds about how faith justifies.
- Trace the Scripture proofs to WCF Ch. 11 and observe how imputation is grounded in passages on Christ's obedience.
- Compare the language of justification with that of sanctification and list every contrast the Standards draw.
See how this doctrine is stated across the Reformed confessions side by side.
Justification →